Breath of the Spirit
“You give breath, fresh life begins, you keep renewing the world.” I have chosen this verse from psalm 104 to begin our reflection today on air/breath/wind as a symbol of the Spirit. We cannot, of course, see air or wind – but surely, we experience its effects. Wind is the movement of air. Air is essential for living creatures.
No doubt many readers have experienced the profound joy of hearing an infant cry as evidence of the ability to breathe independently of his/her mother. Many others among us have also been present at the sacred moment when a person breathes their last. We are confronted with the mystery of life and death.
About ten years ago, I remember being in a room where all the oxygen was being removed mechanically because of flooding. Moisture had permeated the drywall and there was concern for mold to develop. That experience remains vivid in my mind and heart because it etched the necessity of air, something easy for me to take for granted.
Scripture underlines the symbol of air/breathe for the Spirit. At the beginning of creation, we are told that God breathed, and a human became living. There are innumerable instances of Jesus breathing as he cured a person, and notable after the Passion and Resurrection, Jesus breathed on those gathered and said that he was giving them the Spirit.
Theologians tell us that that air/wind are wonderful symbols of the Spirit whose presence and activity is with us always. The Spirit is God, a continuous presence with us, life-giving and renewing the face of the earth.
Margaret Hoey